Women Use #DressCodePM To Ridicule Prime Minister's Anti-Niqab Comments
- Thread starter mentalfloss
- Start date
It's okay.
All you have to do is pretend these women don't exist.
It's easy.
Muslim women in Canada explain why they wear a niqab
Muslim women in Canada say they choose to wear the niqab out of religious obligation and as an expression of their identity, but are flexible about uncovering their faces in specific circumstances, a recent survey found.
A majority of the women included in a Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) report agreed that in certain instances it would be necessary to lift their face coverings, including when going through airport security, accessing health services, or driving.
“Probably the main takeaway of that is that all the people we talked to were very anxious to emphasize that they could be flexible. Clearly they do have boundaries . . . but what they wanted to emphasize is ‘yes, I could lift this, I could do that, that’s fine,’” said Lynda Clarke, the report’s author and a professor of religion at Concordia University in Montreal.
“We didn’t want to go out and save women or correct misconceptions or anything else. It was scholarly research,” Clarke said.
A niqab is a face and hair veil that leaves only the area around a woman’s eyes visible. It differs from a hijab, which covers a woman’s hair and ears, and a burqa, which covers the full head and body.
For the report, 38 women responded to online surveys, 35 participated in focus groups in Mississauga, Montreal, Ottawa and Waterloo, and eight conducted more extensive, individual interviews.
But since the sample size was small, and no firm numbers exist on the total number of women who wear a niqab in Canada, the results “should be understood to be tentative indications only,” the report said.
Most women surveyed online said they wore a niqab out of religious obligation or as an expression of their Muslim identity. Other answers included encouragement from their spouse or friends, setting an example for their children, comfort, and religious pilgrimage.
None of the women said they were forced to wear the niqab, or were encouraged by a family member — excluding spouses.
“I think if a woman wants to wear niqab, she should be allowed to do it. Most of them are not actually asking for anything more, and if they were asked, they would show their face for identification purposes,” one woman said in the report.
A majority of the women were foreign-born Canadian citizens or permanent residents in their 20s or early 30s. Most were married housewives, and 85 per cent had household incomes below the national average.
Most also said they began wearing the niqab after they arrived in Canada.
According to Clarke, the report shows that a compromise is possible.
“Out of this small group, a large part of them . . . have a very positive attitude, (and) are quite accommodating. This is something that one can work with and build on, rather than initiating conflict,” she said.
Earlier this week, Stephen Harper said that the niqab was “rooted in a culture that is anti-women.”
The statement prompted questions and condemnation from opposition parties, and ridicule on social media, as users took up the hashtag #dresscodePM to ask the prime minister if their clothing choices were appropriate.
In 2011, the government barred the niqab from citizenship ceremonies. Last month, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the decision was “unlawful,” and ordered Ottawa to lift the ban.
A recent University of Michigan survey asked people in six Muslim-majority countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia to choose how they preferred women to dress in public.
A woman covering her hair and ears in public, but not her face, was the preferred option, chosen by 55 per cent of people in Tunisia, 52 per cent in Egypt, 46 per cent in Turkey, 44 per cent in Iraq, 32 per cent in Lebanon, and 24 per cent in Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia was the only country to overwhelmingly choose the niqab as the best clothing option for women, at 63 per cent.
Forty-nine per cent of respondents in Lebanon, 32 per cent of Turks, and 15 per cent of Tunisians said it was preferable for women to be uncovered completely.
High percentages of people in Tunisia (56 per cent), Turkey (52 per cent), Lebanon (49 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (47 per cent) also said it should be up to women to decide what to wear.
Muslim women in Canada explain why they wear a niqab | Metro
All you have to do is pretend these women don't exist.
It's easy.
Muslim women in Canada explain why they wear a niqab
Muslim women in Canada say they choose to wear the niqab out of religious obligation and as an expression of their identity, but are flexible about uncovering their faces in specific circumstances, a recent survey found.
A majority of the women included in a Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) report agreed that in certain instances it would be necessary to lift their face coverings, including when going through airport security, accessing health services, or driving.
“Probably the main takeaway of that is that all the people we talked to were very anxious to emphasize that they could be flexible. Clearly they do have boundaries . . . but what they wanted to emphasize is ‘yes, I could lift this, I could do that, that’s fine,’” said Lynda Clarke, the report’s author and a professor of religion at Concordia University in Montreal.
“We didn’t want to go out and save women or correct misconceptions or anything else. It was scholarly research,” Clarke said.
A niqab is a face and hair veil that leaves only the area around a woman’s eyes visible. It differs from a hijab, which covers a woman’s hair and ears, and a burqa, which covers the full head and body.
For the report, 38 women responded to online surveys, 35 participated in focus groups in Mississauga, Montreal, Ottawa and Waterloo, and eight conducted more extensive, individual interviews.
But since the sample size was small, and no firm numbers exist on the total number of women who wear a niqab in Canada, the results “should be understood to be tentative indications only,” the report said.
Most women surveyed online said they wore a niqab out of religious obligation or as an expression of their Muslim identity. Other answers included encouragement from their spouse or friends, setting an example for their children, comfort, and religious pilgrimage.
None of the women said they were forced to wear the niqab, or were encouraged by a family member — excluding spouses.
“I think if a woman wants to wear niqab, she should be allowed to do it. Most of them are not actually asking for anything more, and if they were asked, they would show their face for identification purposes,” one woman said in the report.
A majority of the women were foreign-born Canadian citizens or permanent residents in their 20s or early 30s. Most were married housewives, and 85 per cent had household incomes below the national average.
Most also said they began wearing the niqab after they arrived in Canada.
According to Clarke, the report shows that a compromise is possible.
“Out of this small group, a large part of them . . . have a very positive attitude, (and) are quite accommodating. This is something that one can work with and build on, rather than initiating conflict,” she said.
Earlier this week, Stephen Harper said that the niqab was “rooted in a culture that is anti-women.”
The statement prompted questions and condemnation from opposition parties, and ridicule on social media, as users took up the hashtag #dresscodePM to ask the prime minister if their clothing choices were appropriate.
In 2011, the government barred the niqab from citizenship ceremonies. Last month, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the decision was “unlawful,” and ordered Ottawa to lift the ban.
A recent University of Michigan survey asked people in six Muslim-majority countries across the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia to choose how they preferred women to dress in public.
A woman covering her hair and ears in public, but not her face, was the preferred option, chosen by 55 per cent of people in Tunisia, 52 per cent in Egypt, 46 per cent in Turkey, 44 per cent in Iraq, 32 per cent in Lebanon, and 24 per cent in Pakistan.
Saudi Arabia was the only country to overwhelmingly choose the niqab as the best clothing option for women, at 63 per cent.
Forty-nine per cent of respondents in Lebanon, 32 per cent of Turks, and 15 per cent of Tunisians said it was preferable for women to be uncovered completely.
High percentages of people in Tunisia (56 per cent), Turkey (52 per cent), Lebanon (49 per cent) and Saudi Arabia (47 per cent) also said it should be up to women to decide what to wear.
Muslim women in Canada explain why they wear a niqab | Metro
Good Lord you people are SO insistent on jamming your head in the sand.
Point One: TERRORISM was never mentioned in the piece, as I remember it.
Point Two: The "journalist" had little to do with the relevant assertions, they were quoted out of published works, or shown on video to be the opinion of the imam.
Nice straw man!, but NOTHING to do with the debate.
I love living rent free in your head.
That said, it's drafty with all the holes around, and the place is a dump... I expect you do fix it up immediately
That said, it's drafty with all the holes around, and the place is a dump... I expect you do fix it up immediately
So that would make me change my mind? I am not about whining to mods. You thought that was unpleasant? Good thing we have mods. If i upset you just think about the fact that i have as much right to bit*h as you have. Pointing out the obvious fact that i do not own or moderate the board is intelligent? I intensely dislike your attitude and you have to live with that.
You don't upset me. On your very best day, you're a mild annoyance.
Live with it? I love it. Considering everything you've revealed about yourself, if you felt anything better than intense dislike, I'd be real worried.
But you are one whiny little boy, that's for certain sure.
Yep, keep calling names, that will put you in first place in the worlds greatest thinker department.
He had a long day
I made him look Stupid over his Christians are as bad as Muslims in the women violence department.
I made him look Stupid over his Christians are as bad as Muslims in the women violence department.
Actually, you didn't. The only one that looked stupid was you but that's only because you didn't understand
Been a good day, Cannuck. I calculate we'll be at each other's throats before too long, but it was a pleasure working with you.
Thanks for providing us with good laughs all day long. You two do really well as a pair of clowns
Thanks for providing us with good laughs all day long. You two do really well as a pair of clowns
Awww...you're embarassed
Thanks for providing us with good laughs all day long. You two do really well as a pair of clowns
Thank you for finally admitting you support genocide. If you get your wish, maybe you can be a camp Kommandant.